Drawing upon ecological theories of crime control, aspects of the physical environment such as building design, street layout, and land use are thought to indicate territoriality and natural surveillance, thereby affecting the ability of residents to supervise and intervene in crime. To date, ecological models have been tested primarily at community levels of analysis (i.e., neighborhood, block). In contrast, this paper tests the applicability of this theoretical approach to crime in school settings. More specifically, we estimate random-intercept models using survey data from 3682 7th-grade students and 1351 teachers, nested within 65 Kentucky schools linked to school-level measures of the physical environment to determine how they affect various measures of school-based crime and misconduct.
Editors’ Strategic Implications:How one measures school violence may have profound effects on what contributing causal factors are identified and strategies for prevention are developed. Student reports of school violence appear linked to more normative daily behaviors, whereas teacher reports–though limited to officially observed behaviors–are typically more serious. Thus, measurement implications abound. Nevertheless, territoriality, surveillance, and a sense of order, particularly in the immediate school context more so than the larger community context, appear linked to school violence.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Angel, S. (1968). Discouraging crime through city planning. Berkeley, CA: University of California: Center for Planning and Development Research.
Appleyard, D. (1981). Livable streets. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Astor, R. A., & Meyer, H. A. (2001). The conceptualization of violence-prone school subcontexts: Is the sum of the parts greater than the whole? Urban Education, 36, 374–399.
Astor, R. A., Meyer, H. A., & Behre, W. J. (1999). Unowned places and times: Maps and interviews about violence in high schools. American Educational Research Journal, 36, 3–42.
Astor, R. A., Meyer, H. A., & Pitner, R. O. (2001). Elementary and middle school students’ perceptions of violence-prone school sub-contexts. The Elementary School Journal, 101, 511–530.
Baum, A., Davis, G. E., & Aiello, J. R. (1978). Crowding and neighborhood mediation of urban density. Journal of Population, 1, 266–279.
Bellair, P. E. (2000). Informal surveillance and street crime: A complex relationship. Criminology, 38, 137–170.
Brantingham, P. L., & Brantingham, P. J. (1993). Nodes, paths, and edges: Considerations on the complexity of crime and the physical environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13, 3–28.
Brantingham, P. L., & Brantingham, P. J. (1982). Mobility, notoriety, and crime: A study of crime patterns in urban nodal points. Journal of Environmental Systems, 11, 89–99.
Brantingham, P. L., & Brantingham, P. J. (1981). Environmental criminology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Brown, B., & Altman, I. (1981). Territoriality and residential crime: A conceptual framework. In P. J. Brantingham & P. L. Brantingham (Eds.), Environmental criminology (pp. 55–76). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Brown, B., & Altman, I. (1983). Territoriality, defensible space, and residential burglary: An environmental analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3, 203–220.
Bursik, R., & Grasmick, H. (1993). Neighborhoods and crime. New York: Macmillan.
Cisneros, H. G. (1995). Defensible space: Deterring crime and building community. Washington, DC: Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Crowe, T. (2000). Crime prevention through environmental design: Applications of architectural design and space management concepts (2nd ed.). Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Crowe, T. D. (1999). Designing safer schools. School Safety, Fall, 9–13.
Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method. New York: Wiley.
Donnelly, P. G., & Kimble, C. E. (1997). Community organizing, environmental change, and neighborhood crime. Crime and Delinquency, 4, 493–511.
Fisher, B., & Nasar, J. L. (1995). Fear spots in relation to microlevel physical cues: Exploring the overlooked. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32, 214–239.
Fisher, B., & Nasar, J. L. (1992). Fear of crime in relation to three exterior site features: Prospect, refuge, and escape. Environment and Behavior, 24, 35–65.
Fowler, F., & Mangione, T. (1986). A three-pronged effort to reduce crime and fear of crime: The Hartford Experiment. In D. Rosenbaum (Ed.), Community crime prevention (pp. 87–108). Newbury Park CA: Sage.
Fowler, F., McCalla, M. E., & Mangione, T. (1979). Reducing residential crime and fear: The Hartford Neighborhood Crime Prevention Program. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Gottfredson, D. C., & Gottfredson, G. D. (2002). Quality of school-based prevention programs: Results from a national survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39, 3–35.
Gottfredson, G. G., & Gottfredson, D. (1985). Victimization in schools. New York: Plenum.
Greenberg, S., Rohe, W., & Williams, J. (1982). Safety in urban neighborhoods: A comparison of physical characteristics and informal territorial control in high and low crime neighborhoods. Population and Environment, 5, 141–165.
Jacobs, J. (1961). The death and life of the American city. New York: Vintage.
Kurtz, E., Koons, B., & Taylor, R. (1998). Land use, physical deterioration, resident-based control, and calls for service on urban streetblocks. Justice Quarterly, 15, 21–149.
Ley, D., & Cybriwsky, R. (1974). The spatial ecology of stripped cars. Environment and Behavior, 6, 53–68.
Mawby, R. I. (1977). Defensible space: A theoretical and empirical appraisal. Urban Studies, 14, 169–179.
Merry, S. E. (1981). Defensible space undefended: Social factors in crime control through environmental design. Urban Affairs Quarterly, 16, 397–422.
Newman, O. (1972). Defensible space: Crime prevention through urban design. New York: Macmillan.
Newman, O. (1995). Defensible space: A new physical planning tool for urban revitalization. Journal of the American Planning Association, 61, 149–155.
Newman, O. (1996). Creating defensible space. Washington DC, U.S.: Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Newman, O., & Franck, K. A. (1982). The effects of building size on personal crime and fear of crime. Population and Environment, 4, 203–220.
Roncek, D., & Faggiani, D. (1985). High schools and crime: A replication. Sociological Quarterly, 26, 491–505.
Roncek, D., & LoBosco, A. (1983). The effect of high schools on crime in their neighborhood. Social Science Quarterly, 64, 598–613.
Roncek, D., & Maier, P. (1991). Bars, blocks and crimes revisited: Linking the theory of routine activities to the empiricism of ‘hot spots’. Criminology, 9, 725–753.
Roncek, D. W., & Pravatiner, M. A. (1989). Additional evidence that taverns enhance nearby crime. Sociology and Social Research, 73, 185–188.
Samia Mair, J., & Mair, M. (2003). Violence prevention and control through environmental modifications.Annual Review of Public Health, 24, 209–225.
Sampson, R. J., & Groves, W. B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774–802.
Sampson, R. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1999). Systematic social observation of public spaces: A new look at disorder in urban neighborhoods. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 603–651.
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. J. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924.
Schneider, M., Marschall, M., Roch, C., & Teske, P. (1999). Heuristics, low information rationality, and choosing public goods: Broken windows as shortcuts to information about school performance. Urban Affairs Review, 34, 729–741.
Sherman, L. W., Gottfredson, D., MacKenzie, D., Eck, J., Reuter, P., & Bushway, S. (1997). Preventing crime: What works, what doesn’t, what’s promising. Washington, DC, U.S.: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
Skogan, W. (1990). Disorder and decline: Crime and the spiral of decay in American communities. New York: Free Press.
Smith, W. R., Glave Fraze, S., & Davison, E. L. (2000). Furthering the integration of routine activity and social disorganization theories: Small units of analysis and the study of street robbery as a diffusion process. Criminology, 38, 489–523.
Speer, P. W., Gorman, D. M., Labouvie, E. W., & Ontkush, M. (1998). Violent crime and alcohol availability: Relationships in an urban community. Journal of Public Health Policy, 19, 303–338.
Taylor, R. B. (2001). Breaking away from broken windows: Baltimore neighborhoods and the nationwide fight against crime, grime, fear, and decline. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Taylor, R. B. (1987). Toward an environmental psychology of disorder. In D. Stokols & I. Altman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 951–986). New York: Wiley.
Taylor, R. B. (1988). Human territorial functioning. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, R. B., & Brower, S. (1985). Home and near-home territories. In I. Altman, & I. C. Werner (Eds.), Human behavior and environment: Current theory and research, Vol. 8: Home environments I (pp. 83–122). New York: Plenum.
Taylor, R. B., Gottfredson, S. D., & Brower, S. (1981). Territorial cognitions and social climate in urban neighborhoods. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 2, 289–303.
Taylor, R. B., Gottfredson, S. D., & Brower, S. (1984). Block crime and fear: Local social ties and territorial functioning. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 21, 303–331.
Toby, J. (1994). Everyday school violence: How disorder fuels it. American Educator, 17(4), 4–9, 44–48.
Wallis, A., & Ford, D. (1980). Crime prevention through environmental design: The demonstration in Broward County, Florida. Executive summary. Washington, DC, U.S.: Department of Justice.
Westinghouse Electric (1977a). Crime prevention through environmental design. CPTED program manual, Vol. 1: Planning and implementation manual. Arlington, VA :Westinghouse Electric.
Westinghouse Electric (1977b). Crime prevention through environmental design. CPTED program manual, Vol. 2: CPTED strategies and directives manual. Arlington, VA :Westinghouse Electric.
White, G. F. (1990). Neighborhood permeability and burglary rates. Justice Quarterly, 7, 57–67.
Wilcox, P., Quisenberry, N., Cabrera, D. T., & Jones, S. (2004). Busy places and broken windows? Towards defining the role of physical structure and process in community crime models. The Sociological Quarterly, 45, 185–207.
Wilson, J., & Kelling, G. (1982). Broken windows. The Atlantic Monthly, March, 29–38.
Wood, E. (1961). Housing design: A social theory. New York: Citizens’ Housing and Planning Council of New York, Inc.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by grants (DA-11317 and DA-05312) from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, November 2001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilcox, P., Augustine, M.C. & Clayton, R.R. Physical Environment and Crime and Misconduct in Kentucky Schools. J Primary Prevent 27, 293–313 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-006-0034-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-006-0034-z